Truth is, the whole thing was sort of a goof up. An old friend is becoming a tour guide and invited us to a private tour of the kotel tunnels- something I have always wanted to do but have never gotten around to. Needless to say I jumped at the chance.
Well, maybe jumped is the wrong word since try though we might we got there 20 minutes late. And the tour was already gone. Ok, so no it wasn't. Can we chalk it up to a bad brain day that the tour was actually supposed to be next week and I screwed up the dates?
Anyhow, I ended up walking around the city walls from shhar yafo to shaar haashpot which, thought it has stunningly beautiful views, also has stunningly insane hills. Boy did I get my work-out for the day (and I was running trying to make the tour we were "late" for!
In any case, we decided to see if we could get on a tour anyway, and ended up signing up for two separate tours- one the kotel tunnels, and 2 the
The technology is amazing. You get a set of headphones that have a built in sensor and as you move from room to room it hooks up to an overhead computer to keep pace with how quickly you choose to move through the exhibit.
Each column is made up of hundreds of pieces of stacked glass that have been carved in different ways. It starts with the "pillars" of the Jewish history. It moves through a few diferent eras but I only took pictures of those I found most interesting.
The destruction and exile after the beit hamidash was destroyed.
The transition from student to teacher over 2000 years, represented by 2000 pieces of glass carved with various names
The holocaust with chunks torn out of the chain
rising from the ashes
close up of the stacked sheets of glass in front of the names of soldiers who died for the state.
We then went to the kotel tunnels tour. Those pictures are all over the internet so I did not bother taking many, but this one looking down the full height of the wall rather impressed me 
Jason brought the car around and I wanted with this gorgeous view
see, here is me
Oh, and here is a fun decorated car that went by while I was waiting.
This I just thought was cool. I rarely get to see the men's side of the kotel- the lined up bimas and shtenders cracked me up!
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